Payback
I don't own these characters. I just like to spend time with them. No other profit to be had.
AN: I was given strict orders by LadyKRedzz to post this even though I didn't think it was quite right. I've had it hanging around for about a year and I've edited and re-edited and then re-edited again and I still think I've missed something. But a promise is a promise. So here it is. If you all find the flaws, don't tell me, I'm not sure my mind can take it.
(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(**XOXO**)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)
(SET IN SEASON 10)
Matt sat by the small crackling fire, he had going, and stared vacantly into the dancing flames. The bitter coffee he was drinking had gone cold in his hands but he hadn't noticed. His mind wasn't really on the acrid brew or the fire or the cold silent woods that surrounded him. His mind was back in Dodge, his gaze still fixed on the dead woman, lying in the street in front of the Long Branch.
He kept hearing her voice screaming his name, as she fell in front of the bullet meant for him and the one he'd meant for another. Over and over again, he saw her stumble and slip lifelessly to the ground, while the man that pushed her, made his escape.
He tried closing his eyes and placing his hands over his ears but the terrible sights and sounds were still there. Though those events had taken place a month prior, they were still sharp and clear in his senses. Ever haunting him, tormenting him.
Tossing the rest of the liquid in his cup, he settled back against his saddle and wearily closed his eyes, hoping for, if not sleep, at least a modicum of rest. Tomorrow he had another long day ahead of him. He still had to find the man that had forced him to kill the one person he wanted least to hurt.
(*(*(*(*(**XO**)*)*)*)*)
A month prior
"You know, Cowboy," Kitty grinned over at Matt, "it being so quiet in town this time of year, I just may have to close down early tonight."
Matt looked over at the teasing light in her eyes and returned the grin. "Yeah?"
Kitty nodded. "Um huh. Either that or at least let Sam take over for the night and I just go on up early. Of course, I sure would hate to have to do that alone. And with it being so hot and all…" She tilted her head as she regarded his increasingly flushed face. "Well, you know, there's just no telling what I might do."
Matt swallowed hard thinking about what she might do. "Tell ya what, Kitty." He licked his lips. "Let me see if I can get Festus to take evening rounds tonight and I'll come back in a little bit and uh… oh, tuck you in or something."
Kitty sat back and giggled. "I like the idea of 'or something' better." She arched a brow at him as he swiftly got to his feet.
"Well, we'll just see about that then." He smiled down at her. "I'll go find Festus now and get a couple of things taken care of at the office and then come back later."
"I'll be here." She replied.
Matt topped his head with his hat and turned for the door. "See ya later, Kitty."
Kitty was still grinning when Sam interrupted her thoughts by calling her to the bar. Shaking her head, Kitty got up from the table and headed for the bar just when she heard raised voices coming from the street.
"Just a minute, Sam." She waved a hand at her bartender and stepped over to the door and looked out. Her eyes widened and her throat constricted when she saw what was about to take place outside.
After leaving the bar room, Matt had just pushed outside through the swinging doors when he heard his name called. Turning, he saw a black coated man standing down the street, his coat pushed back behind his gun and his hand hovering over its wooden grip as he faced the lawman. "Dillon!" He called loudly, forcefully. "I've come to kill you!"
Matt took a deep breath and shook his head, stepping out into the street and away from the saloon and people. "Who are you?" He demanded to know when he was sure; no one could be hurt by a stray bullet. "What do you want with me?"
"My names, Dunn." The man sneered. "And I told ya. I come to kill ya!"
As Matt and the stranger named Dunn sized each other up, Kitty gasped and pushed through doors out onto the boardwalk moving down near the alley, closer to where Matt stood out in the street. Her heart was pounding furiously and her mouth had gone dry at the thought of what could happen.
She didn't call Matt's name or anything else that could attract his attention. She knew he needed to stay focused solely on the stranger at the end of the street. But she couldn't help taking a step closer to where he stood. She never saw the man that had silently and invisibly moved to a position just behind her.
The next few minutes were tense ones for several people standing there. Matt and the fierce looking man who called himself Dunn were staring intently at each other, each looking to discover the other's weakness. Doc stood at the bottom of his steps, silently praying that one more time the big lawman's famed fast draw would hold sway against another bandit.
Festus, who'd heard the man calling for Matthew, was standing down near the stable, his gun drawn, prepared to take care of the bandit should he prevail. He'd only been in town about a year or so and was really beginning to like it and the people in it. If anyone tried to hurt one of those people, he had every intention of hurting them.
A large number of Dodge City's citizens stood silently on the boardwalks on both sides of the streets, watching the men as they prepared to duel. As all eyes, including Kitty's, were turned in their direction, no one saw the other stranger in town take a step closer to her.
"Dunn, I'm going to ask you one last time." Matt yelled down to his opponent. "What do you want with me? What's this all about?"
"It's about you." Dunn smirked. "A fella paid me a sizeable amount of money to put you under and I aim to earn my keep. Besides, I've always wanted to prove that you're nothing like every one thinks."
"Who?" Matt demanded. He hoped that if he kept this man talking he could find a way to stop him without gun play. "Who hired you?"
For just a split second, Dunn's eyes shifted to the right before settling once again on the form of the big lawman. Matt saw it but his focus never moved off of the man. Instead, he watched him even closer. "Who hired you?" He asked again.
Again the man's eyes shifted for just a blink as his fingers twitched and his hand started for his gun. Matt hesitated for just a second, allowing the man to draw first, before he pulled his own gun and fired. He never saw the man, who was standing behind Kitty, suddenly lunge forward and push her as hard as he could, forward into the path of both the bullets.
The whole world, it seemed, suddenly came to a complete halt as the stunned red head looked down at the blood suddenly blossoming on her blouse and the pain she suddenly felt. Raising her eyes, she frowned as she looked over at Matt as he stood there in horror, his smoking gun still in his hand. "Mat…" She managed before the lights dimmed and she fell senseless to the ground.
TBC
